Friday, May 22, 2009

so i found an unopened bottle of poppy seeds in our freezer last night and got a bee in my bonnet to make muffins. the recipe below was for Lemon Poppy Seed muffins, but alas and alack, we have no lemons and they turned out really to be much more scones than muffins. fine with us, i've never made scones before and it was very easy. so here ya go:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly brush a 12-cup muffin tin with butter and set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, zest, and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the poppy seeds.

Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Take care not to overmix the batter. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack. Serve warm.

Cook's Note: Poppy seeds can go rancid easily and should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

* Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Jocelyn's Note: I changed the lemon zest to the same amount of grated ginger, which was nearly imperceptable as a flavor to me, but i'm sure it added something to the overall flavor. i would use lemon zest if i had it. I also used much more sugar on the tops, a large three-finer pinch-full.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

in my ongoing quest to never buy another commercial cleaner for my house, i looked up "natural drain cleaner" online and found something quite like what i expected:

From eHow.com: Put a tablespoon of baking soda into the kitchen drain about once a week, then slowly pour in 1/4 cup of vinegar or lemon juice and let it stand for 30 minutes. Next run run hot water through the drain to eliminate minor buildups and odors.

they recommend this same procedure for clogs but with different amounts: Alternatively, consider a natural drain cleaner even for blockages. Remove any standing water then pour 1/2 c. baking soda into your drain. Follow this with 1/2 c. white vinegar. The baking soda is basic and the vinegar is acidic, so they will react with a churning action should break up the blockage without using any chemicals.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

so i made dinner the other night, and bratton was over (that would be brian bratton, steve's biz partner) and couldn't stop raving about the dinner. now, for some people that would mean they liked it and wanted to show their appreciation to the chef. but bratton and i are way beyond the politics of good manners and gracious host/hostess behavior. besides that, bratton is a great cook himself and quite the saucier - in fact, if he doesn't bring a sauce (salsa, rub, dipping, basting, marinating or otherwise) to my house when he comes over, then, as the friend, not the hostess, i am offended. but bratton raving about my food happens about as often as a blue moon, which, i discovered the other day is actually a real phenomenon, as defined originally by the Farmer's Almanac as the fourth full moon in any given season. a season being defined by the equinoxes beginning around the 20th/21st of march, june, september and december. so, you start counting at the first full moon closest to the equinox of the season, let's choose june 20, since it's the next one coming up. the full moon is july 7, so that would be the early summer moon. the next full moon, on august 6, is the midsummer moon (i totally, unabashedly, love the idea of a midsummer's moon, and to think i didn't discover its existence until the other day!). the next full moon, on september 4, is the late summer moon. how utterly fabulous and wonderful is that? so, if there happens to be an extra full moon, between the mid and late moons, that's the blue moon. it happens every 2.7154 years and we'll get our next one on november 21 of 2010.

i get easily distracted by the moon, but my real point here was bratton's love of my thai recipe and the fact that i promised him and others that i would post the recipe and my changes/additions to it.

so here ya go:

COCONUT NOODLESPREP TIME: 10 MIN. TOTAL TIME 30 MIN. (i have no idea who prepped or timed this, but i'm thinkin' prep is about 20 min., cook time anywhere from 15 min. to 45 min.SERVES 4

I usually use rice instead of noodles and if I'm using rice, I make this more of a sauce than a soup. I either add more coconut milk, or leave out or reduce the chicken stock, depending on how many people and/or how I'm feeling. The soup is also delicious, I just want soup less often here in the tropics.

buy jocelynbroyles jewelry

How to Clean and Polish Sterling Silver

i get asked all the time about the best way to clean and polish sterling silver. i've got a few answers for you:

1. If you live here in Tamarindo and your jewelry is plain silver or gold with few or no stones, I will happily tumble-polish your pieces for you for a very nominal charge. They come out super shiny and brand-new looking!

2. Recommended for flatware and hollowware - I'll try it on jewelry and let you all know how it works: "In an aluminum pot (or a pot lines with aluminum foil) mix a dilute solution of equal parts of bakin soda, salt and liquid soap. A quarter cup of each to a gallon of water would be a typical mixture. Set the sterling into the pot, bring the mix to a boil and allow to stand for a few minutes. Oxides are transferred to the aluminum. Rinse in water and wash before using." From Tim McCreight's,"The Complete Metalsmith"

3. I use this method all the time on my jewelry: Boil 2-3 Cups water. While the water is boiling, line a glass or plastic container (i use a tupperware container) with aluminum foil. Lay out your jewelry on top of the foil, sprinkle in a generous amount of baking soda (you don't have to burry the jewelry, but give it a light dusting). Pour on the boiling water to cover the jewelry. Let sit for a few mintues to a few hours, depending on how tarnished your pieces were. Rinse in water.

4. You can buy a commercial cream tarnish remover. My favorite is Wright's Silver Cream. You can find this in most hardware and grocery stores in the US.

5. You can also buy a polishing cloth from your local jeweler. They work well and are probably the easiest way to polish jewelry, though the results are not usually as shiny as the other methods.

Lovely

clouds. my new obsession.

Books I'd Like to Read

'Lost Boy' by Brent Jeffs

othe books by Kem Nunn, a third generation Californian with several novels under his belt

'Replay' by Ken Grimwood

'The 4 Hour Work Week'

'The Success Principals' by Jack Canfield

Today's Favorite Thing

after three weeks of city, i find my treehouse-like view of forest and ocean with narry a buidling, road or person in sight to be utterly calming and utterly beautiful.

the lightening tonight is fabulous, lots of long streaks and few overhead clouds, so you can really see each strike. we get lots of lightening during the wet and it (and it's accompanying thunder) are some of my very favorite things

we discovered the bird's nest seen from out kitchen window is a type of oriole, but not the Baltimore variety

Today's Quote (or quotes if it's a busy day)

"be happy and make choices that allow you to be.. everything is a choice, you just need to accept the choices you make and savor the positves about that choice." -Dan Caplin

"I am old enough to know only too well my good and bad qualities, which were often one and the same." - Lisa See's Herione, from Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

"Your are getting a woman who somewhere along the line misplaced whatever slight faith she ever had in the social contract, in the meliorative principle, in the whole grand pattern of human endeavor." - Joan Didion, from The White Album

"There was always more in the world than men could see, walked they ever so slowly; they will see it no better for going fast. The really precious things are thought and sight, not pace. It does a bullet no good to go fast; and a man, if he be truly a man, no harm to go slow; for his glory is not at all in going, but in being." - John Ruskin, 19th Century artist. From Alain de Botton's, "The Art of Travel"